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Polugaevsky, Lev

classical era

Lev Polugaevsky (1934-1995) was a Soviet grandmaster and world-class opening theoretician who remained among the elite from the early 1960s through the late 1980s. He is best known for developing the ultra-sharp Polugaevsky Variation of the Najdorf Sicilian, which he analyzed with tireless devotion for decades and detailed in his classic book "Grandmaster Preparation."

Total Games

1892

Wins

678

Draws

956

Losses

255

35.8% wins50.5% draws13.5% losses

Most Played Openings

E15 - Queen's Indian Defense: Buerger Variation63E12 - Queen's Indian Defense61E11 - Bogo-Indian Defense40B96 - Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation39B85 - Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Classical Main Line36A30 - English Opening: Wing Gambit36A17 - English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense36A07 - King's Indian Attack32E18 - Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Tiviakov Defense27A34 - English Opening: Symmetrical Variation27

Most Faced Opponents

Kortschnoj, Viktor65 gamesGeller, Efim P34 gamesTal, Mihail31 gamesKarpov, Anatoly29 gamesTimman, Jan H25 gamesLjubojevic, Ljubomir24 gamesPortisch, Lajos24 gamesTaimanov, Mark E22 gamesSmyslov, Vassily22 gamesSpassky, Boris V21 games

Featured Games

FCGFCG
1-0

Polugaevsky, Lev vs Beliavsky, Alexander G

Reggio Emilia9192

1992

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FCGFCG
0-1

Polugaevsky, Lev vs Ljubojevic, Ljubomir

Tilburg

1985

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FCGFCG
1-0

Karpov, Anatoly vs Polugaevsky, Lev

Biel

1990

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FCGFCG
1-0

Karpov, Anatoly vs Polugaevsky, Lev

Tilburg

1983

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FCGFCG
1-0

Polugaevsky, Lev vs Short, Nigel D

Amber-rapid 2nd

1993

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FCGFCG
0-1

Timman, Jan H vs Polugaevsky, Lev

Tilburg

1983

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FCGFCG
0-1

Feuerstein, Arthur William vs Polugaevsky, Lev

WchT U26

1957

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FCGFCG
0-1

Polugaevsky, Lev vs Ljubojevic, Ljubomir

Amber-blind 2nd

1993

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FCGFCG
1-0

Polugaevsky, Lev vs Andersen, Borge

WchT U26

1957

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FCGFCG
0-1

Franzoni, Giancarlo vs Polugaevsky, Lev

WchT

1985

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Games (1892)

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Polugaevsky, Lev vs Csom, Istvan
1/2-1/2
IBM 1970 D35
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Shaw, Terrey Ian
1-0
Siegen olm 1970 E75
Ree, Hans vs Polugaevsky, Lev
0-1
IBM 1970 A24
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Hort, Vlastimil
1/2-1/2
Belgrade URS-World 1970 D53
Scholl, Eduard C vs Polugaevsky, Lev
0-1
IBM 1970 B88
Hartoch, Robert G vs Polugaevsky, Lev
1/2-1/2
IBM 1970 A12
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Vasquez, E.
1-0
Siegen olm 1970 D47
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Hort, Vlastimil
1/2-1/2
Belgrade URS-World 1970 A28
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Jansa, Vlastimil
1-0
Siegen olm 1970 E74
Ciric, Dragoljub M vs Polugaevsky, Lev
1/2-1/2
IBM 1970 B87
Barriera vs Polugaevsky, Lev
0-1
Siegen olm 1970 B95
Wilhelm, Serge vs Polugaevsky, Lev
0-1
Siegen olm 1970 A24
Tringov, Georgi P vs Polugaevsky, Lev
1/2-1/2
IBM 1970 B50
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Janosevic, Dragoljub
1-0
IBM 1970 D52
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Evans, Larry Melvyn
1/2-1/2
Siegen olm 1970 D46
Hennings, Artur vs Polugaevsky, Lev
0-1
EU-chT Kapfenberg 1970 B23
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Szabo, Laszlo
1/2-1/2
EU-chT Kapfenberg 1970 A34
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Matulovic, Milan
1-0
EU-chT Kapfenberg 1970 B36
Hort, Vlastimil vs Polugaevsky, Lev
1/2-1/2
Belgrade URS-World 1970 A46
Hort, Vlastimil vs Polugaevsky, Lev
1/2-1/2
IBM 1970 A17
Yabra, Freddy vs Polugaevsky, Lev
0-1
Siegen olm 1970 E67
Hort, Vlastimil vs Polugaevsky, Lev
1-0
Belgrade URS-World 1970 B22
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Langeweg, Kick
1/2-1/2
IBM 1970 E16
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Donner, Jan Hein
1-0
IBM 1970 E73
Padevsky, Nikola vs Polugaevsky, Lev
1-0
EU-chT Kapfenberg 1970 B87
Jansa, Vlastimil vs Polugaevsky, Lev
0-1
EU-chT Kapfenberg 1970 B87
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Pfleger, Helmut
1-0
Ludwigsburg 1969 E01
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Balashov, Yuri S
1/2-1/2
URS-ch37 1969 A09
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Mohrlok, Dieter
1/2-1/2
Ludwigsburg 1969 D53
Zhukhovitsky, Samuel vs Polugaevsky, Lev
0-1
URS-ch37 1969 B84
Zaitsev, Alexander N vs Polugaevsky, Lev
1/2-1/2
URS-ch36 playoff-1pl 1969 D32
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Zaitsev, Igor A
1/2-1/2
URS-ch37 1969 A42
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Bilek, Istvan
1-0
Ludwigsburg 1969 D99
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Parma, Bruno
1/2-1/2
JUG-URS 1969 B07
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Ivkov, Borislav
1/2-1/2
Buesum 1969 E08
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Gligoric, Svetozar
1-0
Belgrade 1969 A33
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Bilek, Istvan
1-0
Buesum 1969 E91
Kern vs Polugaevsky, Lev
0-1
Ludwigsburg 1969 B83
Furman, Semen Abramovich vs Polugaevsky, Lev
1-0
URS-ch37 1969 E14
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Kupreichik, Viktor D
1/2-1/2
URS-ch37 1969 D11
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Stein, Leonid
1/2-1/2
URS-ch37 1969 A49
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Bukic, Enver
1/2-1/2
Belgrade 1969 E06
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Ghitescu, Theodor
1-0
Buesum 1969 A49
Vasiukov, Evgeni vs Polugaevsky, Lev
1/2-1/2
URS-ch37 1969 B87
Hecht, Hans Joachim vs Polugaevsky, Lev
0-1
Belgrade 1969 B88
Bobotsov, Milko G vs Polugaevsky, Lev
1/2-1/2
Buesum 1969 E11
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Matanovic, Aleksandar
1-0
Belgrade 1969 A17
Janosevic, Dragoljub vs Polugaevsky, Lev
1/2-1/2
Belgrade 1969 B61
Parma, Bruno vs Polugaevsky, Lev
1/2-1/2
JUG-URS 1969 B83
Polugaevsky, Lev vs Saemisch, Fritz
1-0
Buesum 1969 A14
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